{"id":54,"date":"2011-01-25T17:22:46","date_gmt":"2011-01-25T17:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/?p=54"},"modified":"2011-01-25T18:04:05","modified_gmt":"2011-01-25T18:04:05","slug":"fastest-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/fastest-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Fastest II"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we personify and identify with animals, we recognize and accept more about our own behaviour and condition. In my work, I strive to understand humans by finding parallels in our fellow animals.<\/p>\n

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nib ink and stamped ink<\/p><\/div>\n

Here is a drawing\/print that functions as a metaphor for the declining genetic stability of the cheetah species. The body of a cheetah is famously refined in its design. This cat\u2019s seventy-pound body is tailored to reach its super mammalian speed of 120 km\/h. However, although the cheetah is crowned the fastest land animal, the architecture of its kingdom is just as rapidly crumbling. Barely able to survive the ice age, the remaining fifteen hundred of this species now face looming extinction from its massively diminished population.\u00a0 Extreme inbreeding has resulted in an alarming lack of genetic diversity, making them highly susceptible to extinction if there were to be an epidemic. Furthermore, these aerodynamic, light cats are usually unable to defend themselves, their cubs, and kills from their heavier relatives.<\/p>\n

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detail of the drawing<\/p><\/div>\n

The cheetah has evolved to be an exceptional species, and yet, so specialised that its uniqueness is leading it to its elimination. The tragedy of one\u2019s own nature and power being one\u2019s biggest downfall is a sentiment that is not only felt by cheetahs. Humans, too, can empathise with the vicious cycle of the cheetah – of one\u2019s greatest strength being one\u2019s ultimate weakness. We build fantastic super technology, such as the Concorde, a turbojet-powered supersonic aircraft. When it lost its titanium part during lift off and caused a fire ignition, the Concorde had past its V1<\/sub> speed and continued to attempt lift-off. The fire caused the plane to disintegrate in the air and reached extreme temperatures until it lost control and crashed. On a personal level, one can be so attractive one becomes only appreciated as such, or love another so intensely that one falls dependent and loses his or her individuality.<\/p>\n

I express this sentiment by beginning with an original ink drawing of a cheetah. The unique drawing of the cheetah is replicated with a scanned image that is then laser etched into rubber. Then, the cheetah\u2019s image was inked once and printed around the original drawing multiple times. Eventually, the copied image of that cheetah deteriorated because of the material nature of the printing technique. The final appearance initially resembles a mass of cheetahs. Upon closer investigation, however, the viewer will realise that there is just one cheetah and he is surrounded by himself, gradually degrading.<\/p>\n

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detail of first stamped image from the laser etched rubber<\/p><\/div>\n

-Christie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we personify and identify with animals, we recognize and accept more about our own behaviour and condition. In my work, I strive to understand humans by finding parallels in our fellow animals. Here is a drawing\/print that functions as a metaphor for the declining genetic stability of the cheetah species. The body of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ink"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christielau.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}